Tony Allen > Posey

“I truly believe that I am a better player than Pose. I don’t want to toot my own horn and make it sound like that, but that’s how I feel. I mean, I let the coaches evaluate that. That’s just how I feel.”

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“You know what’s crazy, man? I hate showing emotion. I hate showing raw emotion because I like that to be private. Sometimes when there’s an abundance of it, I can’t really center it or control it, and when it comes out, it’s not like I’m ashamed of it, but if I could control it a lot better, I would. And sometimes, I ain’t gonna front, I label it as disappointing,

It’s interesting stuff.

In case you need reminding… here he is… right after the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship last year. Specifically… standing under fluttering green and white confetti, wearing a “Champions” hat, on his way to hug Bill Russell and get the Larry O’Brien trophy.

9 Responses

Well, talent-wise, I’d say Tony is definitely better. Reality-wise, Posey played well and Tony flailed all the way to the end of the bench.

Breaking it down, what Posey does well, he does substantially better than Tony: defensive rebounding, 3-point shooting and team defense; he also brought an intangible element of leadership/experience that his teammates from KG on down obviously appreciated.

Tony of course can get to the basket better with the ball and on the break, he’s a much better perimeter defender in spite of Posey’s reputation as being a lockdown defender (he’s a solid on the ball defender but I think his legend outstripped reality in that case), Tony can also create a shot for a teammate (although I wouldn’t call it a strength of his); Tony of course has the intangible of being at least a small bit insane.

I’m pretty pro-Tony and was in the camp that was very happy to see him come back. But in the end you’re correct, it’s pretty simple: he’s got to prove it. Barring another injury I think he will.

Mike - October 3, 2008 at 2:50 pm

great points Mike…

I think the key thing people have to remember is… Tony is a different kind of player than Posey. It won’t be fair to either guy to match up their stats and compare them.

But there is no getting around it… Tony is going to have to make us forget about Posey.

Wrong! Poz is better! Its plain and simple. Its like comparing Gerald Green to T-Mac. Poz has two championship rings and is known as a “clutch” Player. Not that T-Mac is known as clutch but he’s an accomplished NBA Player. TA is the opposite.. how many times did we hold our breaths when TA was put in a game. Poz has actually done something over a long period of time in the league. TA has had a very good couple of months before getting injured and thats pretty much it.

Non the less I do think TA could be a very good player & an important part of the team, but till this point he hasn’t done much but frustrate us (well atleast me).

G4L - October 3, 2008 at 4:03 pm

I agree that the pre injury TA was much more versatile offensively than POZE and their defensive capabilities are about the same though they do guard slightly different positions in that TA can guard the 2, 3, and point whereas POZ-E guards more the 2,3,and 4

the biggest difference between poze and ta is between the ears, see if ta can improve on that because if he cant then this whole conversation is pointless

the real question is who will fill pozey’s role in giving awkward manhugs?

Papa Irish - October 3, 2008 at 5:11 pm

Didn’t I say what TA said like 3 days ago?

Great minds think alike.

Tim (FD) - October 3, 2008 at 5:58 pm

You gotta stop posting that Garnett video…. I end up in tears every time. I cant take that man. Oh God.

Did we actually win the championship?

Oh God…. deep breaths.

Tim (FD) - October 3, 2008 at 6:15 pm

My only thought about how Posey’s replacement (minutes wise) can make me not miss him is this…

There were games last year when I felt better that Posey entered the game. If Pierce or Allen was struggling and Posey came in, I knew, I just knew it, he would do something to get the team going.

His replacement needs to be able to do that. I don’t care who he guards, how fast he can get to the basket, how he does whatever, if he can bring the overall level of play like Posey would, that is all that matters.

mollysdaddy - October 3, 2008 at 6:17 pm

[…] good work Darius, just lay off the diet pills. I’m absolutely stunned at the results of our poll paring James Posey vs Tony Allen. 44-percent of you think TA will be better this year than Po-Z was last year. Some of us need to […]

I gotta stick up for TA. I like the confidence that he is showing so far. TA is a lot younger than Posey, and TA has got more potential than Posey. Posey has already hit his prime and he is only going down hill from here. Don’t get me wrong, I love Posey as a player, but I have never lost faith in TA because I have seen what he could do. I believe that he will get back to where he was in 2006. But like everyone else has said, he’s got to prove it in the court.